MBS206

Don't just call around, also call Shannon's. You've just reminded me, I need to call them again and push my premium down and my agreed values up...

Plenty of modern cars run things like Varex exhausts, from HSV through to Ferrari. Their systems are usually setup so once you meet a certain condition (RPM seems to be the main kickover on the HSV from my experience) they automatically open. You could do the same some aftermarket ECU, IE, above X throttle, and X rpm, open the valve, otherwise shut, and then also have a switch to override it when you want a nice exhaust. On my boss' HSV Senator, I pulled the fuse on the variable exhaust, and that fails it into the permanently open position. He loved it, and was the exact amount of idle noise etc that he wanted from it, but didn't want to buy an exhaust for it incase it was droney or shit sounding.

I've not had issues with this for Shannons. It has been many years since I had a Skyline insured, but had things like the XR6T, and Subaru Liberty GTB. The most restrictive I've had is that it couldn't be parked on the road.

You don't need to lean as far to pour the oil in, or change the spark plugs either 😛

Duncan often changes engines before changing the oil...

Add to this... What blew the fuse too? If a circuit feeding power to the coils was blown, how were the coils even functioning to let the car start? There is some seriously wrong wiring in that car for certain, and I'm betting there is some melted cables somewhere, but I can't explain the 30v either, unless there is something back feeding on that power line that has a dodgy power system and the electronics are giving it hell.

My stuff is all with Shannon's, granted, I don't really have imports I'm driving on the road, however, I've had multiple cars at the same time with them. Presently we have the Landcruiser on laid up cover, Sarah's Kluger on full cover, and the house insured. About 18 months ago Sarah wrote her Subaru Liberty GTB off, insured with Shannon's, and the payout, and buy back of the wreck was super quick. In 2020 we had the VF Commodore totalled in a major hailstorm. Storm was on the Saturday, I called on the Sunday and lodged it, vehicle was towed on Tuesday night, assessment team called on Wednesday to say it was a total loss and get payout details, money was in the bank on Thursday morning. Have had a few other claims both at fault, and not at fault, over the years, and never had an issue with them. Funnily enough, they're also the cheapest insurer I find for things like Sarah's Kluger. I will say I'm less impressed dealing with them lately around "the experience", as a lot of their staff that you deal with aren't car enthusiasts. Shannon's has a much more main stream feel ever since they decided to become "big corporate", laid a heap of staff off, and then hired a bunch of non enthusiasts. At the same time they've been making a push to be less "call us and we'll personally have someone who cares help" to "hey, this computer can do stuff for you" and are trying to get more square pegs to fit round holes. (That's just the vibe I get from them). Again, have had no issues with claims with them, but get a bit of a "less personal" feel from them.

I agree that delayed payment probably isn't the most suitable solution. It seems a solid complete transaction would be best. As I wouldn't be using this sale as a line of credit that would typically earn interest, we can probably arrange a much cleaner single transaction deal. I can do $92.52 today. Would you prefer EFT, or Cash on Pickup? 😛

I wouldn't even move it like gTSBoy is saying. I'd seriously do what Duncan is saying. Unplug the injectors, and unplug the fuel pump. Pull the spark plugs out. Have a look in quickly with a bore scope if you want. At most, you can't spray a bit of oil into the bores so there is lubricant in there while you crank it. (Don't fill it, as it's only going to enter the exhaust, or spit at you out the spark plugs holes. Before cranking the engine on the starter, after a 5 year sit I'd probably prime the oil system manually. Easiest way to do so is to look at buying an oil filter relocation block, fit it to the engine. The pressure line going into the engine on this block you can then shove into some sort of oil pump, or put it into a bottle, with that hose going to the bottom. Fill bottle up with oil. Now seal the bottle and add a compressed air line to the top of the bottle. Feed compressed air in, about 20psi will be PLENTY. This will pump oil through the motor. Be aware, it also means it will drain back to the sump, so make sure you don't end up over filling the motor Now bolt the old oil setup back on (or fully install the remote filter system). This way you've at least pushed fresh oil everywhere, then you're letting the motor crank to then do its own oiling. Then I'd tap the key to make sure it can start to crank, if the motor free bumps, then I'd just hit the key and let it crank. After letting it crank and seeing you can get real engine oil pressure, put new spark plugs in, reconnect the fuel system electrics, and send it. Additionally, you can look to remove the fuel feed line to the rail, and divert it to a tank so you can get the bottom of the tank shit out, and just incase there's some crud sitting anywhere that gets passed the fuel filter (or is already ahead of it). If fuel injection at the injectors ends up appearing to be a problem, you can dump the injectors into an ultrasonic cleaner for a quick flush clean out. Note this isn't as good as new injectors, or getting them pro cleaned and flowed

It seems you'd like your Skyline to go to a great home, that can keep it as a beautiful museum piece. I feel I can provide the perfect place for it, however, I'm not sure I can justify so much money for a Skyline that has only been crashed 3 times. Due to this and market prices, would you be against me buying it for $100.00, with $60 to be paid upfront, and the remaining $40 to be paid annually in equal payments?

Well, turns out not a lot happened from back then to now, between life again, and working on 3 separate other cars (only one of which was mine, and will now be departing the household soon). So I decided with the whole "don't go outside, it's a cyclone!" Turning in to being not a whole lot, I ventured down to the garage, found a couple of water leaks in the shed (the main one I've already fixed), and then ended up "stuck" as it started pouring rain, and I didn't want to walk back inside in the pouring rain. This meant I ended up taking a look at the Skyline, and trying to work out what past Matt had been upto. I retraced a few things out from scratch, added the rest of the power feeds in that I needed for the indicators, and headlights. Double checked I'd wired a few things up correctly (and worked out how I wired a few things to begin with), updated my sparse notes. Added one of the ground points. Oh, and got really really dusty, as the car is quite dirty. Wrote up quickly what should be left for me to do with the wiring too. Adding the below photos more for my records than anything else. I need to make myself a proper book for the car that details everything, and how I've done it, but for now, this is my records... The third image is my most important one for me, and I need to draw it out into a proper schematic eventually. The last photo is my re-written list, I'd have put it on the white board, except I had to take the white board down to fix one of the water leaks.

Is there a diameter difference in the stock to Nismo? If so, the weight alone won't be indicative when comparing flywheels of the same diameter, since the radius of the flywheel acts on the moment of inertia with a square factor, where as mass is linear. Roughly going from a 4.5kg flywheel with radius 20cm, to a 9kg flywheel with radius 14cm would see them act the same. This calc is just here to act as a brief numbers comparison and reflects no actual RB flywheel diameters etc. it also assumes even weight distribution (thickness) throughout.

It seems this could be due to a restructure/team direction change... Or... You're working with a different category of vehicle... Or you've decided you'd rather be able to play with your own cars again... I'm hoping the latter...

Did you get any down time over Christmas, or have you had any since to play with this? Or have you given up and are trying to get yourself a second hand V8SC instead?

A random thought I had just before I hit "Submit on this post". If brake fluid, in a container in my garage that has never been opened goes bad after 18 months, why can I leave it in my car for 24 months in an "unsealed container"... Secondly, some other digging, and brake fluid manufacturers seem to be saying 5 year shelf life... Me thinks there line on 18 months for an unsealed bottle is pretty much horse shit marketing spin. Kind of like how if you drive a car and don't run a turbo timer your turbo and motor will die horribly... Where I started on this though... Someone (me) started down a bit of a rabbit hole, I don't quite have the proper equipment to do Equilibrium Reflux boiling per the proper test standards. I did a little digging on YouTube, and this was the first video I found on someone attempting to "just boil it". This video isn't overly scientific, as we don't have a known reference for his test either. Inaccuracy in his equipment could have him reaching the 460 to 470f boiling point range in reality. In the video, using a laser temp gun, he claims his Dot3 that's been open in his florida garage for over a year gets to about 420 to 430 fahrenheit (215 to 221c) Doing some googling, I located an MSDS for that specific oil, and from new, it claims a dry boiling point of 460 to 470f. Unfortunately they don't list a wet boiling point for us to see how far it degraded toward its "wet" point. While watching it I was thinking "I wonder what the flash point is..." turns out its only 480f for that specific brake fluid.... As for testing the oil's resistance, I might not be able to accurately do that unfortunately. Resistance level will be quite a LOT higher than my system can read I suspect based on some research. However, I might be able to do it by measuring the current when I apply a specific voltage. I won't have an actual water % value, but I'll have some values I can compare between the multitude of fluids. I'll run some vague calculations later and see if I should be able to read any reliable amount of current. These calcs will be based on some values I've found for other oils, and see how close I'll need my terminals together. From memory I can get down to 1pA accuracy on the DMM. I don't think my IOT Power Tester has any better resolution.

Interesting. I've not dived into the cleanliness of the factory CAS. I'm curious if the variations are less of an issue if the OEM sensor were brand new. Optical sensors if they're starting to get dirt and crap into them as they're getting older would definitely cause issues as they age. It's an interesting point to keep in the back of mind for me though

So, barely torque them, but add a drop of Loctite just to be sure?...

After a quick read, it's just conductivity testing. Might grab the DMM at work and do a 4 wire test on some oil for science. I think Sarah's car is due for a fluid change, so capturing a reading from her old fluid, reading from my unopened old bottles, and then I'll grab a brand new bottle. We'll have to see how far it all varies. And possibly after this weekend I might be able to steal a spot on a hoist in the workshop across from work to even do the brake bleed easily (yeah, I still hate jacking cars and working on the ground, so I do it in style when possible 😛 ) I'll get a small jig printed for the probes so we know we're perfectly keeping the probes at the same distance. Using 4 wire should work perfectly, as it's applying a voltage to measure current, and measuring the voltage drop. that's my theory without being a chemical/physics engineer. GTSBoy, any thoughts on how you'd do it with a benchtops DMM?

On a 400hp RB, what benefits other than "it's not 30+ years old" are you seeing from the NZ Wiring Kit trigger setup? If it were me going to change triggering, my belief would be to go for a crank trigger to remove the issues caused by what people claim is belt stretch etc, but that's from my understanding a much larger issue for super high power, rather than those in the 400hp and below club.

I have multiple bottles in a shed that gets hot, and I'm in SEQ, so it's humid. Maybe we test their theory... Anyone have a system to accurately measure moisture content in oil?

Wait, they're claiming UNOPENED fluid has a shelf life of only 18 months?

This comparison table needs more MaxSpeedingRods turbos added for those off us who like the LOLs 😛

It's about the same time for me from Bunnings, or the Fasteners. My big push away from takeaway food, and gluten in general keeps me away from the Bunnings Snags too! Weather up here, I've been out for two walks today in the beautiful sunshine. Had a few little drizzles, and some wind, that honestly, a tin of beans and I could compete on how harsh she blows Thankfully, being this bit inland, we're not getting anything much really. Will probably pick up a bit more when/if Cyclone Alfie decides to come ashore. A few areas in the GC though, and south into NSW are really getting smashed though! Right now, I'm just annoyed Alfie hasn't hit, as I'm not allowed to crack into the BBQ foods like the bacon and eggs until the Cyclone hits "In case we lose power"...

Any plans for E85? If so, add flex fuel sensor. I'd probably add in the sensors I mentioned above if the Link will support using them for engine protection. With water pressure, you need to be able to effectively set it that "If temp > X, and pressure = atmospheric, shutdown" as at running temp, you should be able to read pressure in the cooling system. If pressure suddenly disappears, it means the water went some where, and this is a quicker reaction than waiting on water temp to go up (Which, can take a little longer than you'd like, considering it now has to wait for hot air to heat it up) Oil pressure, Oil temp, both would be on my list too if you're looking to add sensors. Wideband O2. And at least one EGT sensor. If you're feeling deluxe, put in individual runner EGTs. Single EGT sensor is more so forget about a specific number, get used to "What is normal EGTs", and then keep an eye on it, if it starts going away from "normal" it's a sign something is wrong (Also, things like the tune can still start going out of spec, but EGTs may not show it, for example one injector starts running leaning, so ECU richens everything up, now 5 out of 6 cylinders are rich, and running cool, with one cylinder lean and running hotter, so it's not perfect) Then there is your other things to look at non sensor related, but you may have already done, or have underway, and that would be things like building a sump for more oil, and better oil control under high G-Forces (Cornering, brakes, acceleration). Basically, the above is worth looking/thinking about, if the ECU can do protective stuff with it, and you continue to use it how you are (Drive it to the track, thrash it, drive home, repeat once every 3 to 4 months)

My thing I'd be doing, is pulling it out, and just getting the tune cleaned up for now. Before that even happens, checking over everything, like vac hoses, fuel hoses, etc. No point dropping thousands on sensors if the moment you start it back up all the oil leaks out, or it has massive vacuum leaks etc. But really, to know what to do, depends on what your use case is. Hard core track car? Throw most sensors available at it. Street car, I'd probably just run oil pressure, oil temps, water pressure, water temp, probably fuel pressure too. I don't know exactly what the Link can handle and do with those though. And if it's mainly just to cruise the streets, rather than mountain runs, you can probably skip most of the above if you've already got them in as gauges and warning lights. PS, inb4 "sell it and buy a modern sportscar"